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Pál B. On the functions of astrocyte-mediated neuronal slow inward currents. Neural Regen Res 2024; 19:2602-2612. [PMID: 38595279 PMCID: PMC11168512 DOI: 10.4103/nrr.nrr-d-23-01723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 12/25/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Slow inward currents are known as neuronal excitatory currents mediated by glutamate release and activation of neuronal extrasynaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors with the contribution of astrocytes. These events are significantly slower than the excitatory postsynaptic currents. Parameters of slow inward currents are determined by several factors including the mechanisms of astrocytic activation and glutamate release, as well as the diffusion pathways from the release site towards the extrasynaptic receptors. Astrocytes are stimulated by neuronal network activity, which in turn excite neurons, forming an astrocyte-neuron feedback loop. Mostly as a consequence of brain edema, astrocytic swelling can also induce slow inward currents under pathological conditions. There is a growing body of evidence on the roles of slow inward currents on a single neuron or local network level. These events often occur in synchrony on neurons located in the same astrocytic domain. Besides synchronization of neuronal excitability, slow inward currents also set synaptic strength via eliciting timing-dependent synaptic plasticity. In addition, slow inward currents are also subject to non-synaptic plasticity triggered by long-lasting stimulation of the excitatory inputs. Of note, there might be important region-specific differences in the roles and actions triggering slow inward currents. In greater networks, the pathophysiological roles of slow inward currents can be better understood than physiological ones. Slow inward currents are identified in the pathophysiological background of autism, as slow inward currents drive early hypersynchrony of the neural networks. Slow inward currents are significant contributors to paroxysmal depolarizational shifts/interictal spikes. These events are related to epilepsy, but also found in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and stroke, leading to the decline of cognitive functions. Events with features overlapping with slow inward currents (excitatory, N-methyl-D-aspartate-receptor mediated currents with astrocytic contribution) as ischemic currents and spreading depolarization also have a well-known pathophysiological role in worsening consequences of stroke, traumatic brain injury, or epilepsy. One might assume that slow inward currents occurring with low frequency under physiological conditions might contribute to synaptic plasticity and memory formation. However, to state this, more experimental evidence from greater neuronal networks or the level of the individual is needed. In this review, I aimed to summarize findings on slow inward currents and to speculate on the potential functions of it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Balázs Pál
- Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
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2
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Beyh A, Howells H, Giampiccolo D, Cancemi D, De Santiago Requejo F, Citro S, Keeble H, Lavrador JP, Bhangoo R, Ashkan K, Dell'Acqua F, Catani M, Vergani F. Connectivity defines the distinctive anatomy and function of the hand-knob area. Brain Commun 2024; 6:fcae261. [PMID: 39239149 PMCID: PMC11375856 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcae261] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Revised: 05/19/2024] [Accepted: 08/10/2024] [Indexed: 09/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Control of the hand muscles during fine digit movements requires a high level of sensorimotor integration, which relies on a complex network of cortical and subcortical hubs. The components of this network have been extensively studied in human and non-human primates, but discrepancies in the findings obtained from different mapping approaches are difficult to interpret. In this study, we defined the cortical and connectional components of the hand motor network in the same cohort of 20 healthy adults and 3 neurosurgical patients. We used multimodal structural magnetic resonance imaging (including T1-weighted imaging and diffusion tractography), as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging and navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS). The motor map obtained from nTMS compared favourably with the one obtained from functional magnetic resonance imaging, both of which overlapped well within the 'hand-knob' region of the precentral gyrus and in an adjacent region of the postcentral gyrus. nTMS stimulation of the precentral and postcentral gyri led to motor-evoked potentials in the hand muscles in all participants, with more responses recorded from precentral stimulations. We also observed that precentral stimulations tended to produce motor-evoked potentials with shorter latencies and higher amplitudes than postcentral stimulations. Tractography showed that the region of maximum overlap between terminations of precentral-postcentral U-shaped association fibres and somatosensory projection tracts colocalizes with the functional motor maps. The relationships between the functional maps, and between them and the tract terminations, were replicated in the patient cohort. Three main conclusions can be drawn from our study. First, the hand-knob region is a reliable anatomical landmark for the functional localization of fine digit movements. Second, its distinctive shape is determined by the convergence of highly myelinated long projection fibres and short U-fibres. Third, the unique role of the hand-knob area is explained by its direct action on the spinal motoneurons and the access to high-order somatosensory information for the online control of fine movements. This network is more developed in the hand region compared to other body parts of the homunculus motor strip, and it may represent an important target for enhancing motor learning during early development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmad Beyh
- NatBrainLab, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK
- Department of Psychiatry, Brain Health Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| | - Henrietta Howells
- NatBrainLab, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | - Davide Giampiccolo
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- Victor Horsley Department of Neurosurgery, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Neurosciences, Cleveland Clinic London, London SW1X 7HY, UK
| | - Daniele Cancemi
- NatBrainLab, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | | | | | - Hannah Keeble
- NatBrainLab, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | | | - Ranjeev Bhangoo
- Neurosurgical Department, King's College Hospital, London SE5 9RS, UK
| | - Keyoumars Ashkan
- Neurosurgical Department, King's College Hospital, London SE5 9RS, UK
| | - Flavio Dell'Acqua
- NatBrainLab, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, UK
| | | | - Francesco Vergani
- Neurosurgical Department, King's College Hospital, London SE5 9RS, UK
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3
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Tu G, Jiang N, Chen W, Liu L, Hu M, Liao B. The neurobiological mechanisms underlying the effects of exercise interventions in autistic individuals. Rev Neurosci 2024; 0:revneuro-2024-0058. [PMID: 39083671 DOI: 10.1515/revneuro-2024-0058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 07/15/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder is a pervasive and heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition characterized by social communication difficulties and rigid, repetitive behaviors. Owing to the complex pathogenesis of autism, effective drugs for treating its core features are lacking. Nonpharmacological approaches, including education, social-communication, behavioral and psychological methods, and exercise interventions, play important roles in supporting the needs of autistic individuals. The advantages of exercise intervention, such as its low cost, easy implementation, and high acceptance, have garnered increasing attention. Exercise interventions can effectively improve the core features and co-occurring conditions of autism, but the underlying neurobiological mechanisms are unclear. Abnormal changes in the gut microbiome, neuroinflammation, neurogenesis, and synaptic plasticity may individually or interactively be responsible for atypical brain structure and connectivity, leading to specific autistic experiences and characteristics. Interestingly, exercise can affect these biological processes and reshape brain network connections, which may explain how exercise alleviates core features and co-occurring conditions in autistic individuals. In this review, we describe the definition, diagnostic approach, epidemiology, and current support strategies for autism; highlight the benefits of exercise interventions; and call for individualized programs for different subtypes of autistic individuals. Finally, the possible neurobiological mechanisms by which exercise improves autistic features are comprehensively summarized to inform the development of optimal exercise interventions and specific targets to meet the needs of autistic individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Genghong Tu
- Department of Sports Medicine, 47878 Guangzhou Sport University , Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510500, P.R. China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Physical Activity and Health Promotion, 47878 Scientific Research Center, Guangzhou Sport University , Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510500, P.R. China
| | - Nan Jiang
- Graduate School, 47878 Guangzhou Sport University , Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510500, P.R. China
| | - Weizhong Chen
- Graduate School, 47878 Guangzhou Sport University , Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510500, P.R. China
| | - Lining Liu
- Graduate School, 47878 Guangzhou Sport University , Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510500, P.R. China
| | - Min Hu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Physical Activity and Health Promotion, 47878 Scientific Research Center, Guangzhou Sport University , Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510500, P.R. China
| | - Bagen Liao
- Department of Sports Medicine, 47878 Guangzhou Sport University , Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510500, P.R. China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Physical Activity and Health Promotion, 47878 Scientific Research Center, Guangzhou Sport University , Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510500, P.R. China
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4
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Chauvel M, Pascucci M, Uszynski I, Herlin B, Mangin JF, Hopkins WD, Poupon C. Comparative analysis of the chimpanzee and human brain superficial structural connectivities. Brain Struct Funct 2024:10.1007/s00429-024-02823-2. [PMID: 39020215 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-024-02823-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/16/2024] [Indexed: 07/19/2024]
Abstract
Diffusion MRI tractography (dMRI) has fundamentally transformed our ability to investigate white matter pathways in the human brain. While long-range connections have extensively been studied, superficial white matter bundles (SWMBs) have remained a relatively underexplored aspect of brain connectivity. This study undertakes a comprehensive examination of SWMB connectivity in both the human and chimpanzee brains, employing a novel combination of empirical and geometric methodologies to classify SWMB morphology in an objective manner. Leveraging two anatomical atlases, the Ginkgo Chauvel chimpanzee atlas and the Ginkgo Chauvel human atlas, comprising respectively 844 and 1375 superficial bundles, this research focuses on sparse representations of the morphology of SWMBs to explore the little-understood superficial connectivity of the chimpanzee brain and facilitate a deeper understanding of the variability in shape of these bundles. While similar, already well-known in human U-shape fibers were observed in both species, other shapes with more complex geometry such as 6 and J shapes were encountered. The localisation of the different bundle morphologies, putatively reflecting the brain gyrification process, was different between humans and chimpanzees using an isomap-based shape analysis approach. Ultimately, the analysis aims to uncover both commonalities and disparities in SWMBs between chimpanzees and humans, shedding light on the evolution and organization of these crucial neural structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maëlig Chauvel
- BAOBAB, NeuroSpin, Paris-Saclay University, CNRS, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
- Department of Neurophysics, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Marco Pascucci
- BAOBAB, NeuroSpin, Paris-Saclay University, CNRS, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Ivy Uszynski
- BAOBAB, NeuroSpin, Paris-Saclay University, CNRS, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Bastien Herlin
- BAOBAB, NeuroSpin, Paris-Saclay University, CNRS, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- Rehabilitation Unit, AP-HP, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France
| | | | - William D Hopkins
- Department of Comparative Medicine, Michale E Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, TX, USA
| | - Cyril Poupon
- BAOBAB, NeuroSpin, Paris-Saclay University, CNRS, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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5
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Wiesner D, Feldengut S, Woelfle S, Boeckers TM, Ludolph AC, Roselli F, Del Tredici K. Neuropeptide FF (NPFF)-positive nerve cells of the human cerebral cortex and white matter in controls, selected neurodegenerative diseases, and schizophrenia. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2024; 12:108. [PMID: 38943180 PMCID: PMC11212262 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-024-01792-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2024] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/01/2024] Open
Abstract
We quantified and determined for the first time the distribution pattern of the neuropeptide NPFF in the human cerebral cortex and subjacent white matter. To do so, we studied n = 9 cases without neurological disorders and n = 22 cases with neurodegenerative diseases, including sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, n = 8), Alzheimer's disease (AD, n = 8), Pick's disease (PiD, n = 3), and schizophrenia (n = 3). NPFF-immunopositive cells were located chiefly, but not exclusively, in the superficial white matter and constituted there a subpopulation of white matter interstitial cells (WMIC): Pyramidal-like and multipolar somata predominated in the gyral crowns, whereas bipolar and ovoid somata predominated in the cortex surrounding the sulci. Their sparsely ramified axons were unmyelinated and exhibited NPFF-positive bead-like varicosities. We found significantly fewer NPFF-immunopositive cells in the gray matter of the frontal, cingulate, and superior temporal gyri of both sporadic ALS and late-stage AD patients than in controls, and significantly fewer NPFF-positive cells in the subjacent as well as deep white matter of the frontal gyrus of these patients compared to controls. Notably, the number of NPFF-positive cells was also significantly lower in the hippocampal formation in AD compared to controls. In PiD, NPFF-positive cells were present in significantly lower numbers in the gray and white matter of the cingulate and frontal gyrii in comparison to controls. In schizophrenic patients, lower wNPFF cell counts in the neocortex were significant and global (cingulate, frontal, superior temporal gyrus, medial, and inferior gyri). The precise functions of NPFF-positive cells and their relationship to the superficial corticocortical white matter U-fibers are currently unknown. Here, NPFF immunohistochemistry and expression characterize a previously unrecognized population of cells in the human brain, thereby providing a new entry-point for investigating their physiological and pathophysiological roles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Wiesner
- Department of Neurology, Center for Biomedical Research, Ulm University, 89081, Ulm, Germany
- DZNE, Ulm Site, 89081, Ulm, Germany
| | - Simone Feldengut
- Clinical Neuroanatomy Section, Department of Neurology, Center for Biomedical Research, Ulm University, 89081, Ulm, Germany
| | - Sarah Woelfle
- Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Ulm University, 89081, Ulm, Germany
| | - Tobias M Boeckers
- DZNE, Ulm Site, 89081, Ulm, Germany
- Institute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Ulm University, 89081, Ulm, Germany
| | | | - Francesco Roselli
- Department of Neurology, Center for Biomedical Research, Ulm University, 89081, Ulm, Germany.
- DZNE, Ulm Site, 89081, Ulm, Germany.
| | - Kelly Del Tredici
- Clinical Neuroanatomy Section, Department of Neurology, Center for Biomedical Research, Ulm University, 89081, Ulm, Germany
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6
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Weerasekera A, Ion-Mărgineanu A, Nolan GP, Mody M. Subcortical-cortical white matter connectivity in adults with autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia patients. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging 2024; 340:111806. [PMID: 38508025 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2024.111806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia (SZ) are neuropsychiatric disorders that overlap in symptoms associated with social-cognitive impairment. Alterations of the cingulate cortex, subcortical, medial-temporal, and orbitofrontal structures are frequently reported in both disorders. In this study, we examined white-matter connectivity between these structures in adults with ASD and SZ patients compared with their respective neurotypical controls and indirectly with each other, using probabilistic and local DTI tractography. This exploratory study utilized publicly available neuroimaging databases, of adults with ASD (ABIDE II; n = 28) and SZ (COBRE; n = 38), age-gender matched neurotypicals (NT) and associated phenotypic data. Tractography was performed using Freesurfer and MRtrix software, and diffusion metrics of white-matter tracts between cingulate-, orbitofrontal- cortices, subcortical structures, parahippocampal, entorhinal cortex were assessed. In ASD, atypical diffusivity parameters were found in the isthmus cingulate and parahippocampal connectivity to subcortical and rostral-anterior cingulate, which were also associated with IQ and social skills (SRS). In contrast, atypical diffusivity parameters were observed between the medial-orbitofrontal cortex and subcortical structures in SZ, and were associated with executive function (i.e., IQ, processing speed) and emotional regulation. Overall, the results suggest that defects in the isthmus cingulate, medial-orbitofrontal, and striato-limbic white matter connectivity may help unravel the neural underpinnings of executive and social-emotional dysfunction at the core of neuropsychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akila Weerasekera
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Adrian Ion-Mărgineanu
- ESAT - STADIUS, KU Leuven, Leuven. Belgium; Biomed Artificial Intelligence LLC, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Garry P Nolan
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, United States
| | - Maria Mody
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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7
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Mendoza C, Román C, Mangin JF, Hernández C, Guevara P. Short fiber bundle filtering and test-retest reproducibility of the Superficial White Matter. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1394681. [PMID: 38737100 PMCID: PMC11088237 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1394681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024] Open
Abstract
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in studying the Superficial White Matter (SWM). The SWM consists of short association fibers connecting near giry of the cortex, with a complex organization due to their close relationship with the cortical folding patterns. Therefore, their segmentation from dMRI tractography datasets requires dedicated methodologies to identify the main fiber bundle shape and deal with spurious fibers. This paper presents an enhanced short fiber bundle segmentation based on a SWM bundle atlas and the filtering of noisy fibers. The method was tuned and evaluated over HCP test-retest probabilistic tractography datasets (44 subjects). We propose four fiber bundle filters to remove spurious fibers. Furthermore, we include the identification of the main fiber fascicle to obtain well-defined fiber bundles. First, we identified four main bundle shapes in the SWM atlas, and performed a filter tuning in a subset of 28 subjects. The filter based on the Convex Hull provided the highest similarity between corresponding test-retest fiber bundles. Subsequently, we applied the best filter in the 16 remaining subjects for all atlas bundles, showing that filtered fiber bundles significantly improve test-retest reproducibility indices when removing between ten and twenty percent of the fibers. Additionally, we applied the bundle segmentation with and without filtering to the ABIDE-II database. The fiber bundle filtering allowed us to obtain a higher number of bundles with significant differences in fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, and radial diffusivity of Autism Spectrum Disorder patients relative to controls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristóbal Mendoza
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
| | - Claudio Román
- Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ingeniería en Salud, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
| | | | - Cecilia Hernández
- Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
- Center for Biotechnology and Bioengineering (CeBiB), Santiago, Chile
| | - Pamela Guevara
- Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
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Dannhoff G, Morichon A, Smirnov M, Barantin L, Destrieux C, Maldonado IL. Direct Inside-Out Observation of Superficial White Matter Fasciculi in the Human Brain. Brain Connect 2024; 14:107-121. [PMID: 38308471 DOI: 10.1089/brain.2023.0050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Background: Recent methodological advances in the study of the cerebral white matter have left short association fibers relatively underexplored due to their compact and juxtacortical nature, which represent significant challenges for both post-mortem post-cortex removal dissection and magnetic resonance-based diffusion imaging. Objective: To introduce a novel inside-out post-mortem fiber dissection technique to assess short association fiber anatomy. Methods: Six cerebral specimens were obtained from a body donation program and underwent fixation in formalin. Following two freezing and thawing cycles, a standardized protocol involving peeling fibers from deep structures towards the cortex was developed. Results: The inside-out technique effectively exposed the superficial white matter. The procedure revealed distinguishable intergyral fibers, demonstrating their dissectability and enabling the identification of their orientation. The assessment of layer thickness was possible through direct observation and ex vivo morphological magnetic resonance imaging. Conclusion: The inside-out fiber technique effectively demonstrates intergyral association fibers in the post-mortem human brain. It adds to the neuroscience armamentarium, overcoming methodological obstacles and offering an anatomical substrate essential for neural circuit modeling and the evaluation of neuroimaging congruence. Impact statement The inside-out fiber dissection technique enables a totally new perception of cerebral connectivity as the observer navigates inside the parenchyma and looks toward the cerebral surface with the subcortical white matter and the cortical mantle in place. This approach has proven very effective for exposing intergyral association fibers, which have shown to be much more distinguishable from an inner perspective. It gave rise to unprecedented images of the human superficial white matter and allowed, for the first time, direct observation of this vast mantle of fascicles on entire cerebral hemisphere aspects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Dannhoff
- Service de Neurochirurgie, Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
- Université de Tours, INSERM, Imaging Brain & Neuropsychiatry iBraiN U1253, 37032, Tours, France
| | - Alex Morichon
- Université de Tours, INSERM, Imaging Brain & Neuropsychiatry iBraiN U1253, 37032, Tours, France
| | - Mykyta Smirnov
- Université de Tours, INSERM, Imaging Brain & Neuropsychiatry iBraiN U1253, 37032, Tours, France
| | - Laurent Barantin
- Université de Tours, INSERM, Imaging Brain & Neuropsychiatry iBraiN U1253, 37032, Tours, France
| | - Christophe Destrieux
- Université de Tours, INSERM, Imaging Brain & Neuropsychiatry iBraiN U1253, 37032, Tours, France
- Service de Neurochirurgie, CHRU de Tours, Tours, France
| | - Igor Lima Maldonado
- Université de Tours, INSERM, Imaging Brain & Neuropsychiatry iBraiN U1253, 37032, Tours, France
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Chauvel M, Uszynski I, Herlin B, Popov A, Leprince Y, Mangin JF, Hopkins WD, Poupon C. In vivo mapping of the deep and superficial white matter connectivity in the chimpanzee brain. Neuroimage 2023; 282:120362. [PMID: 37722605 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120362] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2023] [Revised: 06/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Mapping the chimpanzee brain connectome and comparing it to that of humans is key to our understanding of similarities and differences in primate evolution that occurred after the split from their common ancestor around 6 million years ago. In contrast to studies on macaque species' brains, fewer studies have specifically addressed the structural connectivity of the chimpanzee brain and its comparison with the human brain. Most comparative studies in the literature focus on the anatomy of the cortex and deep nuclei to evaluate how their morphology and asymmetry differ from that of the human brain, and some studies have emerged concerning the study of brain connectivity among humans, monkeys, and apes. In this work, we established a new white matter atlas of the deep and superficial white matter structural connectivity in chimpanzees. In vivo anatomical and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were collected on a 3-Tesla MRI system from 39 chimpanzees. These datasets were subsequently processed using a novel fiber clustering pipeline adapted to the chimpanzee brain, enabling us to create two novel deep and superficial white matter connectivity atlases representative of the chimpanzee brain. These atlases provide the scientific community with an important and novel set of reference data for understanding the commonalities and differences in structural connectivity between the human and chimpanzee brains. We believe this study to be innovative both in its novel approach and in mapping the superficial white matter bundles in the chimpanzee brain, which will contribute to a better understanding of hominin brain evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maëlig Chauvel
- BAOBAB, UMR 9027, NeuroSpin, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
| | - Ivy Uszynski
- BAOBAB, UMR 9027, NeuroSpin, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Bastien Herlin
- BAOBAB, UMR 9027, NeuroSpin, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France; Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47-83 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, 75013 Paris, France
| | - Alexandros Popov
- BAOBAB, UMR 9027, NeuroSpin, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Yann Leprince
- UNIACT, NeuroSpin, Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Jean-François Mangin
- BAOBAB, UMR 9027, NeuroSpin, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - William D Hopkins
- Department of Comparative Medicine, Michale E Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, TX, United States of America
| | - Cyril Poupon
- BAOBAB, UMR 9027, NeuroSpin, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
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10
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Soylu F, May K, Kana R. White and gray matter correlates of theory of mind in autism: a voxel-based morphometry study. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:1671-1689. [PMID: 37452864 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-023-02680-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 07/02/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties in theory of mind (ToM) and social communication. Studying structural and functional correlates of ToM in the brain and how autistic and nonautistic groups differ in terms of these correlates can help with diagnosis and understanding the biological mechanisms of ASD. In this study, we investigated white matter volume (WMV) and gray matter volume (GMV) differences between matching autistic and nonautistic samples, and how these structural features relate to age and ToM skills, indexed by the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RMIE) measure. The results showed widespread GMV and WMV differences between the two groups in regions crucial for social processes. The autistic group did not express the typically observed negative GMV and positive WMV correlations with age at the same level as the nonautistic group, pointing to abnormalities in developmental structural changes. In addition, we found differences between the two groups in how GMV relates to ToM, particularly in the left frontal regions, and how WMV relates to ToM, mostly in the cingulate and corpus callosum. Finally, GMV in the left insula, a region that is part of the salience network, was found to be crucial in distinguishing ToM performance between the two groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Firat Soylu
- Educational Psychology Program, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, USA.
| | - Kaitlyn May
- Educational Psychology Program, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, USA
| | - Rajesh Kana
- Department of Psychology, & the Center for Innovative Research in Autism, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, USA
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11
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Xue T, Zhang F, Zhang C, Chen Y, Song Y, Golby AJ, Makris N, Rathi Y, Cai W, O'Donnell LJ. Superficial white matter analysis: An efficient point-cloud-based deep learning framework with supervised contrastive learning for consistent tractography parcellation across populations and dMRI acquisitions. Med Image Anal 2023; 85:102759. [PMID: 36706638 PMCID: PMC9975054 DOI: 10.1016/j.media.2023.102759] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2022] [Revised: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Diffusion MRI tractography is an advanced imaging technique that enables in vivo mapping of the brain's white matter connections. White matter parcellation classifies tractography streamlines into clusters or anatomically meaningful tracts. It enables quantification and visualization of whole-brain tractography. Currently, most parcellation methods focus on the deep white matter (DWM), whereas fewer methods address the superficial white matter (SWM) due to its complexity. We propose a novel two-stage deep-learning-based framework, Superficial White Matter Analysis (SupWMA), that performs an efficient and consistent parcellation of 198 SWM clusters from whole-brain tractography. A point-cloud-based network is adapted to our SWM parcellation task, and supervised contrastive learning enables more discriminative representations between plausible streamlines and outliers for SWM. We train our model on a large-scale tractography dataset including streamline samples from labeled long- and medium-range (over 40 mm) SWM clusters and anatomically implausible streamline samples, and we perform testing on six independently acquired datasets of different ages and health conditions (including neonates and patients with space-occupying brain tumors). Compared to several state-of-the-art methods, SupWMA obtains highly consistent and accurate SWM parcellation results on all datasets, showing good generalization across the lifespan in health and disease. In addition, the computational speed of SupWMA is much faster than other methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tengfei Xue
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA; School of Computer Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Fan Zhang
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
| | - Chaoyi Zhang
- School of Computer Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Yuqian Chen
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA; School of Computer Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Yang Song
- School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
| | | | - Nikos Makris
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA; Center for Morphometric Analysis, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA
| | - Yogesh Rathi
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Weidong Cai
- School of Computer Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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12
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Kai J, Mackinley M, Khan AR, Palaniyappan L. Aberrant frontal lobe "U"-shaped association fibers in first-episode schizophrenia: A 7-Tesla Diffusion Imaging Study. Neuroimage Clin 2023; 38:103367. [PMID: 36913907 PMCID: PMC10011060 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2022] [Revised: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2023] [Indexed: 03/07/2023]
Abstract
Schizophrenia is believed to be a developmental disorder with one hypothesis suggesting that symptoms arise due to abnormal interactions (or disconnectivity) between different brain regions. While some major deep white matter pathways have been extensively studied (e.g. arcuate fasciculus), studies of short-ranged, "U"-shaped tracts have been limited in patients with schizophrenia, in part due to the sheer abundance of tracts present and due to the spatial variations across individuals that defy probabilistic characterization in the absence of reliable templates. In this study, we use diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) to investigate frontal lobe superficial white matter that are present in the majority of study participants, comparing healthy controls and minimally treated patients with first-episode schizophrenia (<3 median days of lifetime treatment). Through group comparisons, 3 out of 63 frontal lobe "U"-shaped tracts were found to demonstrate localized aberrations affecting the microstructural tissue properties (via diffusion tensor metrics) in this early stage of disease. No associations were found in patients between aberrant segments of affected tracts and clinical or cognitive variables. Aberrations in the frontal lobe "U"-shaped tracts in early untreated stages of psychosis occur irrespective of symptom burden, and are distributed across critical functional networks associated with executive function and salience processing. While we limited the investigation to the frontal lobe, a framework has been developed to study such connections in other brain regions, enabling further extensive investigations jointly with the major deep white matter pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Kai
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Robarts Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Michael Mackinley
- Robarts Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ali R Khan
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Robarts Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Lena Palaniyappan
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Robarts Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; Lawson Health Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada; Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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13
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Schilling KG, Archer D, Yeh FC, Rheault F, Cai LY, Shafer A, Resnick SM, Hohman T, Jefferson A, Anderson AW, Kang H, Landman BA. Short superficial white matter and aging: a longitudinal multi-site study of 1293 subjects and 2711 sessions. AGING BRAIN 2023; 3:100067. [PMID: 36817413 PMCID: PMC9937516 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbas.2023.100067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
It is estimated that short association fibers running immediately beneath the cortex may make up as much as 60% of the total white matter volume. However, these have been understudied relative to the long-range association, projection, and commissural fibers of the brain. This is largely because of limitations of diffusion MRI fiber tractography, which is the primary methodology used to non-invasively study the white matter connections. Inspired by recent anatomical considerations and methodological improvements in superficial white matter (SWM) tractography, we aim to characterize changes in these fiber systems in cognitively normal aging, which provide insight into the biological foundation of age-related cognitive changes, and a better understanding of how age-related pathology differs from healthy aging. To do this, we used three large, longitudinal and cross-sectional datasets (N = 1293 subjects, 2711 sessions) to quantify microstructural features and length/volume features of several SWM systems. We find that axial, radial, and mean diffusivities show positive associations with age, while fractional anisotropy has negative associations with age in SWM throughout the entire brain. These associations were most pronounced in the frontal, temporal, and temporoparietal regions. Moreover, measures of SWM volume and length decrease with age in a heterogenous manner across the brain, with different rates of change in inter-gyri and intra-gyri SWM, and at slower rates than well-studied long-range white matter pathways. These features, and their variations with age, provide the background for characterizing normal aging, and, in combination with larger association pathways and gray matter microstructural features, may provide insight into fundamental mechanisms associated with aging and cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt G Schilling
- Department of Radiology & Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
| | - Derek Archer
- Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA,Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA,Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN
| | - Fang-Cheng Yeh
- Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Francois Rheault
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Leon Y Cai
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Andrea Shafer
- Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - Susan M. Resnick
- Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - Timothy Hohman
- Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA,Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA,Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN
| | - Angela Jefferson
- Vanderbilt Memory and Alzheimer’s Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA,Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA,Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Adam W Anderson
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Hakmook Kang
- Department of Biostatistics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Bennett A Landman
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
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14
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Wang S, Zhang F, Huang P, Hong H, Jiaerken Y, Yu X, Zhang R, Zeng Q, Zhang Y, Kikinis R, Rathi Y, Makris N, Lou M, Pasternak O, Zhang M, O'Donnell LJ. Superficial white matter microstructure affects processing speed in cerebral small vessel disease. Hum Brain Mapp 2022; 43:5310-5325. [PMID: 35822593 PMCID: PMC9812245 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are a typical feature of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), which contributes to about 50% of dementias worldwide. Microstructural alterations in deep white matter (DWM) have been widely examined in CSVD. However, little is known about abnormalities in superficial white matter (SWM) and their relevance for processing speed, the main cognitive deficit in CSVD. In 141 CSVD patients, processing speed was assessed using Trail Making Test Part A. White matter abnormalities were assessed by WMH burden (volume on T2-FLAIR) and diffusion MRI measures. SWM imaging measures had a large contribution to processing speed, despite a relatively low SWM WMH burden. Across all imaging measures, SWM free water (FW) had the strongest association with processing speed, followed by SWM mean diffusivity (MD). SWM FW was the only marker to significantly increase between two subgroups with the lowest WMH burdens. When comparing two subgroups with the highest WMH burdens, the involvement of WMH in the SWM was accompanied by significant differences in processing speed and white matter microstructure. Mediation analysis revealed that SWM FW fully mediated the association between WMH volume and processing speed, while no mediation effect of MD or DWM FW was observed. Overall, results suggest that the SWM has an important contribution to processing speed, while SWM FW is a sensitive imaging marker associated with cognition in CSVD. This study extends the current understanding of CSVD-related dysfunction and suggests that the SWM, as an understudied region, can be a potential target for monitoring pathophysiological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuyue Wang
- Department of Radiologythe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineChina
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Fan Zhang
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Peiyu Huang
- Department of Radiologythe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineChina
| | - Hui Hong
- Department of Radiologythe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineChina
| | - Yeerfan Jiaerken
- Department of Radiologythe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineChina
| | - Xinfeng Yu
- Department of Radiologythe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineChina
| | - Ruiting Zhang
- Department of Radiologythe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineChina
| | - Qingze Zeng
- Department of Radiologythe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineChina
| | - Yao Zhang
- Department of Radiologythe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineChina
| | - Ron Kikinis
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Yogesh Rathi
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Nikos Makris
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
- Center for Morphometric AnalysisMassachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Min Lou
- Department of Neurologythe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineChina
| | - Ofer Pasternak
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical SchoolBostonMassachusettsUSA
| | - Minming Zhang
- Department of Radiologythe Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineChina
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15
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Sultan S. Translating neuroimaging changes to neuro-endophenotypes of autistic spectrum disorder: a narrative review. THE EGYPTIAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, PSYCHIATRY AND NEUROSURGERY 2022. [DOI: 10.1186/s41983-022-00578-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Autism-spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder with heterogeneity in etiopathogenesis and clinical presentation. Neuroanatomical and neurophysiological abnormalities may represent neural endophenotypes for autism spectrum disorders which may help identify subgroups of patients seemingly similar in clinical presentation yet different in their pathophysiological underpinnings. Furthermore, a thorough understanding of the pathophysiology of disease can pave the way to effective treatments, prevention, and prognostic predictions. The aim of this review is to identify the predominant neural endophenotypes in autism-spectrum disorder. The evidence was researched at the following electronic databases: Pubmed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE.
Results
Enlarged brain, especially frontotemporal cortices have been consistently reported by structural neuroimaging, whereas functional neuroimaging has revealed frontotemporal dysconnectivity.
Conclusions
Regrettably, many of these findings have not been consistent. Therefore, translating these findings into neural endophenotype is by far an attempt in its budding stage. The structural and functional neuroimaging changes may represent neural endophenotypes unique to autism-spectrum disorder. Despite inconsistent results, a clinically meaningful finding may require combined efforts of autism-spectrum-disorder researchers focused on different aspects of basic, genetic, neuroimaging, and clinical research.
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16
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Chien YL, Chen YJ, Tseng WL, Hsu YC, Wu CS, Tseng WYI, Gau SSF. Differences in white matter segments in autistic males, non-autistic siblings, and non-autistic participants: An intermediate phenotype approach. AUTISM : THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND PRACTICE 2022; 27:1036-1052. [PMID: 36254873 DOI: 10.1177/13623613221125620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
LAY ABSTRACT White matter is the neural pathway that connects neurons in different brain regions. Although research has shown white matter differences between autistic and non-autistic people, little is known about the properties of white matter in non-autistic siblings. In addition, past studies often focused on the whole neural tracts; it is unclear where differences exist in specific segments of the tracts. This study identified neural segments that differed between autistic people, their non-autistic siblings, and the age- and non-autistic people. We found altered segments within the tracts connected to anterior brain regions corresponding to several higher cognitive functions (e.g. executive functions) in autistic people and non-autistic siblings. Segments connecting to regions for social cognition and Theory of Mind were altered only in autistic people, explaining a large portion of autistic traits and may serve as neuroimaging markers. Segments within the tracts associated with fewer autistic traits or connecting brain regions for diverse highly integrated functions showed compensatory increases in the microstructural properties in non-autistic siblings. Our findings suggest that differential white matter segments that are shared between autistic people and non-autistic siblings may serve as potential "intermediate phenotypes"-biological or neuropsychological characteristics in the causal link between genetics and symptoms-of autism. These findings shed light on a promising neuroimaging model to refine the intermediate phenotype of autism which may facilitate further identification of the genetic and biological bases of autism. Future research exploring links between compensatory segments and neurocognitive strengths in non-autistic siblings may help understand brain adaptation to autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Ling Chien
- National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taiwan.,National Taiwan University, Taiwan
| | | | | | | | - Chi-Shin Wu
- National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taiwan
| | | | - Susan Shur-Fen Gau
- National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taiwan.,National Taiwan University, Taiwan
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17
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Shastin D, Genc S, Parker GD, Koller K, Tax CMW, Evans J, Hamandi K, Gray WP, Jones DK, Chamberland M. Surface-based tracking for short association fibre tractography. Neuroimage 2022; 260:119423. [PMID: 35809886 PMCID: PMC10009610 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Revised: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
It is estimated that in the human brain, short association fibres (SAF) represent more than half of the total white matter volume and their involvement has been implicated in a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions. This population of fibres, however, remains relatively understudied in the neuroimaging literature. Some of the challenges pertinent to the mapping of SAF include their variable anatomical course and proximity to the cortical mantle, leading to partial volume effects and potentially affecting streamline trajectory estimation. This work considers the impact of seeding and filtering strategies and choice of scanner, acquisition, data resampling to propose a whole-brain, surface-based short (≤30-40 mm) SAF tractography approach. The framework is shown to produce longer streamlines with a predilection for connecting gyri as well as high cortical coverage. We further demonstrate that certain areas of subcortical white matter become disproportionally underrepresented in diffusion-weighted MRI data with lower angular and spatial resolution and weaker diffusion weighting; however, collecting data with stronger gradients than are usually available clinically has minimal impact, making our framework translatable to data collected on commonly available hardware. Finally, the tractograms are examined using voxel- and surface-based measures of consistency, demonstrating moderate reliability, low repeatability and high between-subject variability, urging caution when streamline count-based analyses of SAF are performed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dmitri Shastin
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Maindy Rd, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom; Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, United Kingdom; BRAIN Biomedical Research Unit, Health & Care Research Wales, Cardiff, United Kingdom.
| | - Sila Genc
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Maindy Rd, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom
| | - Greg D Parker
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Maindy Rd, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom
| | - Kristin Koller
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Maindy Rd, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom
| | - Chantal M W Tax
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Maindy Rd, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom; Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
| | - John Evans
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Maindy Rd, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom
| | - Khalid Hamandi
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Maindy Rd, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom; BRAIN Biomedical Research Unit, Health & Care Research Wales, Cardiff, United Kingdom; Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - William P Gray
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Maindy Rd, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom; Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, United Kingdom; BRAIN Biomedical Research Unit, Health & Care Research Wales, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Derek K Jones
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Maindy Rd, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom; BRAIN Biomedical Research Unit, Health & Care Research Wales, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Maxime Chamberland
- Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Maindy Rd, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, United Kingdom; Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
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18
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Steinberg SN, Tedla NB, Hecht E, Robins DL, King TZ. White matter pathways associated with empathy in females: A DTI investigation. Brain Cogn 2022; 162:105902. [PMID: 36007350 DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2022.105902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Empathy is a component of social cognition that allows us to understand, perceive, experience, and respond to the emotional state of others. In this study, we seek to build on previous research that suggests that sex and hormone levels may impact white matter microstructure. These white matter microstructural differences may influence social cognition. We examine the fractional anisotropy (FA) of white matter pathways associated with the complex human process of empathy in healthy young adult females during the self-reported luteal phase of their menstrual cycle. We used tract-based spatial statistics to perform statistical comparisons of FA and conducted multiple linear regression analysis to examine the strength of association between white matter FA and scores on the Empathy Quotient (EQ), a self-report questionnaire in which individuals report how much they agree or disagree with 60 statements pertaining to their empathic tendencies. Results identified a significant negative relationship between EQ scores and FA within five clusters of white matter: in the left forceps minor/body of the corpus callosum, left corticospinal tract, intraparietal sulcus/primary somatosensory cortex, superior longitudinal fasciculus, and right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus/forceps minor. These consistent findings across clusters suggest that lower self-reported empathy is related to higher FA across healthy young females in specific white matter regions during the menstrual luteal phase. Future research should seek to examine if self-reported empathy varies across the menstrual cycle, using blood samples to confirm cycle phase and hormone levels.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Neami B Tedla
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA
| | - Erin Hecht
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA
| | - Diana L Robins
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA
| | - Tricia Z King
- Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA; Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA.
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19
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Peterson BS, Liu J, Dantec L, Newman C, Sawardekar S, Goh S, Bansal R. Using tissue microstructure and multimodal MRI to parse the phenotypic heterogeneity and cellular basis of autism spectrum disorder. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2022; 63:855-870. [PMID: 34762311 PMCID: PMC9091058 DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.13531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Identifying the brain bases for phenotypic heterogeneity in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will advance understanding of its pathogenesis and improve its clinical management. METHODS We compared Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) indices and connectome measures between 77 ASD and 88 Typically Developing (TD) control participants. We also assessed voxel-wise associations of DTI indices with measures of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) to understand how tissue microstructure associates with cellular metabolism and neuronal density, respectively. RESULTS Autism Spectrum Disorder participants had significantly lower fractional anisotropy (FA) and higher diffusivity values in deep white matter tracts, likely representing ether reduced myelination by oligodendrocytes or a reduced density of myelinated axons. Greater abnormalities in these measures and regions were associated with higher ASD symptom scores. Participant age, sex and IQ significantly moderated these group differences. Path analyses showed that reduced NAA levels accounted significantly for higher diffusivity and higher rCBF values in ASD compared with TD participants. CONCLUSIONS Reduced neuronal density (reduced NAA) likely underlies abnormalities in DTI indices of white matter microstructure in ASD, which in turn are major determinants of elevated blood flow. Together, these findings suggest the presence of reduced axonal density and axonal pathology in ASD white matter. Greater pathology in turn accounts for more severe symptoms, lower intellectual ability, and reduced global efficiency for measures of white matter connectivity in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradley S. Peterson
- Institute for the Developing Mind, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027;,Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033
| | - Jiaqi Liu
- Institute for the Developing Mind, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027
| | - Louis Dantec
- École Polytechnique Universitaire de Marseille, France
| | | | - Siddhant Sawardekar
- Institute for the Developing Mind, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027
| | | | - Ravi Bansal
- Institute for the Developing Mind, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027;,Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033
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20
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Superficial white matter bundle atlas based on hierarchical fiber clustering over probabilistic tractography data. Neuroimage 2022; 262:119550. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Revised: 08/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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21
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Park BY, Paquola C, Bethlehem RAI, Benkarim O, Mišić B, Smallwood J, Bullmore ET, Bernhardt BC. Adolescent development of multiscale structural wiring and functional interactions in the human connectome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2116673119. [PMID: 35776541 PMCID: PMC9271154 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2116673119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Adolescence is a time of profound changes in the physical wiring and function of the brain. Here, we analyzed structural and functional brain network development in an accelerated longitudinal cohort spanning 14 to 25 y (n = 199). Core to our work was an advanced in vivo model of cortical wiring incorporating MRI features of corticocortical proximity, microstructural similarity, and white matter tractography. Longitudinal analyses assessing age-related changes in cortical wiring identified a continued differentiation of multiple corticocortical structural networks in youth. We then assessed structure-function coupling using resting-state functional MRI measures in the same participants both via cross-sectional analysis at baseline and by studying longitudinal change between baseline and follow-up scans. At baseline, regions with more similar structural wiring were more likely to be functionally coupled. Moreover, correlating longitudinal structural wiring changes with longitudinal functional connectivity reconfigurations, we found that increased structural differentiation, particularly between sensory/unimodal and default mode networks, was reflected by reduced functional interactions. These findings provide insights into adolescent development of human brain structure and function, illustrating how structural wiring interacts with the maturation of macroscale functional hierarchies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo-yong Park
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada
- Department of Data Science, Inha University, Incheon, 22212, Republic of Korea
- Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, 16419, Republic of Korea
| | - Casey Paquola
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, 52428, Germany
| | - Richard A. I. Bethlehem
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 8AH, United Kingdom
- Brain Mapping Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 8AH, United Kingdom
| | - Oualid Benkarim
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada
| | | | - Bratislav Mišić
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Jonathan Smallwood
- Department of Psychology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada
| | - Edward T. Bullmore
- Brain Mapping Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 8AH, United Kingdom
| | - Boris C. Bernhardt
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B4, Canada
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22
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Liu K, Wang X, Zhang T, Wang W, Li R, Lu L, Deng Y, Xu K, Kwok T. Cortical Short-Range Fiber Connectivity and Its Association With Deep Brain White Matter Hyperintensities in Older Diabetic People With Low Serum Vitamin B12. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:754997. [PMID: 35401148 PMCID: PMC8990772 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.754997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Although previous studies have indicated that older people with diabetes mellitus (DM) had an approximately two times larger white matter hyperintensity (WMH) load than those without DM, the influence of WMHs on cognition is uncertain and inconsistent in the literature. It is unclear whether the short-range fibers in the juxtacortical region, traditionally considered to be spared from WMH pathology, are enhanced as an adaptive response to deep WM degeneration in older diabetic people with normal cognition. Moreover, the specific effect of vitamin B12 deficiency, commonly accompanied by DM, remains to be investigated. This study implemented a specialized analysis of the superficial cortical short-range fiber connectivity density (SFiCD) based on a data-driven framework in 70 older individuals with DM and low serum vitamin B12. Moreover, the effects of time and vitamin B12 supplementation were assessed based on a randomized placebo-controlled trial in 59 individuals. The results demonstrated a higher SFiCD in diabetic individuals with a higher deep WMH load. Additionally, a significant interaction between DWMH load and homocysteine on SFiCD was found. During the 27-month follow-up period, a longitudinal increase in the SFiCD was observed in the bilateral frontal cortices. However, the observed longitudinal SFiCD change was not dependent on vitamin B12 supplementation; thus, the specific reason for the longitudinal cortical short fiber densification may need further study. Overall, these findings may help us better understand the neurobiology of brain plasticity in older patients with DM, as well as the interplay among DM, WMH, and vitamin B12 deficiency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kai Liu
- Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
| | - Xiaopeng Wang
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
| | - Teng Zhang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET-CT Center, The Second Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
| | - Ruohan Li
- Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
| | - Li Lu
- Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
| | - Yanjia Deng
- School of Medical Imaging, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Yanjia Deng,
| | - Kai Xu
- Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
- Kai Xu,
| | - Timothy Kwok
- Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
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23
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Neonatal brain injury influences structural connectivity and childhood functional outcomes. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0262310. [PMID: 34986206 PMCID: PMC8730412 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 12/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Neonatal brain injury may impact brain development and lead to lifelong functional impairments. Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and congenital heart disease (CHD) are two common causes of neonatal brain injury differing in timing and mechanism. Maturation of whole-brain neural networks can be quantified during development using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) in combination with graph theory metrics. DMRI of 35 subjects with CHD and 62 subjects with HIE were compared to understand differences in the effects of HIE and CHD on the development of network topological parameters and functional outcomes. CHD newborns had worse 12–18 month language (P<0.01) and 30 month cognitive (P<0.01), language (P = 0.05), motor outcomes (P = 0.01). Global efficiency, a metric of brain integration, was lower in CHD (P = 0.03) than in HIE, but transitivity, modularity and small-worldness were similar. After controlling for clinical factors known to affect neurodevelopmental outcomes, we observed that global efficiency was highly associated with 30 month motor outcomes (P = 0.02) in both groups. To explore neural correlates of adverse language outcomes in CHD, we used hypothesis-based and data-driven approaches to identify pathways with altered structural connectivity. We found that connectivity strength in the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) tract 2 was inversely associated with expressive language. After false discovery rate correction, a whole connectome edge analysis identified 18 pathways that were hypoconnected in the CHD cohort as compared to HIE. In sum, our study shows that neonatal structural connectivity predicts early motor development after HIE or in subjects with CHD, and regional SLF connectivity is associated with language outcomes. Further research is needed to determine if and how brain networks change over time and whether those changes represent recovery or ongoing dysfunction. This knowledge will directly inform strategies to optimize neurologic functional outcomes after neonatal brain injury.
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24
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Kai J, Khan AR. Assessing the Reliability of Template-Based Clustering for Tractography in Healthy Human Adults. Front Neuroinform 2022; 16:777853. [PMID: 35250526 PMCID: PMC8891507 DOI: 10.3389/fninf.2022.777853] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Tractography is a non-invasive technique to investigate the brain’s structural pathways (also referred to as tracts) that connect different brain regions. A commonly used approach for identifying tracts is with template-based clustering, where unsupervised clustering is first performed on a template in order to label corresponding tracts in unseen data. However, the reliability of this approach has not been extensively studied. Here, an investigation into template-based clustering reliability was performed, assessing the output from two datasets: Human Connectome Project (HCP) and MyConnectome project. The effect of intersubject variability on template-based clustering reliability was investigated, as well as the reliability of both deep and superficial white matter tracts. Identified tracts were evaluated by assessing Euclidean distances from a dataset-specific tract average centroid, the volumetric overlap across corresponding tracts, and along-tract agreement of quantitative values. Further, two template-based techniques were employed to evaluate the reliability of different clustering approaches. Reliability assessment can increase the confidence of a tract identifying technique in future applications to study pathways of interest. The two different template-based approaches exhibited similar reliability for identifying both deep white matter tracts and the superficial white matter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason Kai
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - Ali R. Khan
- Department of Medical Biophysics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- Centre for Functional and Metabolic Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
- *Correspondence: Ali R. Khan,
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25
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Astrocytic Gap Junctions Contribute to Aberrant Neuronal Synchronization in a Mouse Model of MeCP2 Duplication Syndrome. Neurosci Bull 2022; 38:591-606. [PMID: 35147909 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-022-00824-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2021] [Accepted: 12/07/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Abnormal synchronous neuronal activity has been widely detected by brain imaging of autistic patients, but its underlying neural mechanism remains unclear. Compared with wild-type mice, our in vivo two-photon imaging showed that transgenic (Tg1) mice over-expressing human autism risk gene MeCP2 exhibited higher neuronal synchrony in the young but lower synchrony in the adult stage. Whole-cell recording of neuronal pairs in brain slices revealed that higher neuronal synchrony in young postnatal Tg1 mice was attributed mainly to more prevalent giant slow inward currents (SICs). Both in vivo and slice imaging further demonstrated more dynamic activity and higher synchrony in astrocytes from young Tg1 mice. Blocking astrocytic gap junctions markedly decreased the generation of SICs and overall cell synchrony in the Tg1 brain. Furthermore, the expression level of Cx43 protein and the coupling efficiency of astrocyte gap junctions remained unchanged in Tg1 mice. Thus, astrocytic gap junctions facilitate but do not act as a direct trigger for the abnormal neuronal synchrony in young Tg1 mice, revealing the potential role of the astrocyte network in the pathogenesis of MeCP2 duplication syndrome.
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26
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Takahashi E, Allan N, Peres R, Ortug A, van der Kouwe AJW, Valli B, Ethier E, Levman J, Baumer N, Tsujimura K, Vargas-Maya NI, McCracken TA, Lee R, Maunakea AK. Integration of structural MRI and epigenetic analyses hint at linked cellular defects of the subventricular zone and insular cortex in autism: Findings from a case study. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:1023665. [PMID: 36817099 PMCID: PMC9935943 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1023665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction, communication and repetitive, restrictive behaviors, features supported by cortical activity. Given the importance of the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventrical to cortical development, we compared molecular, cellular, and structural differences in the SVZ and linked cortical regions in specimens of ASD cases and sex and age-matched unaffected brain. Methods We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tractography on ex vivo postmortem brain samples, which we further analyzed by Whole Genome Bisulfite Sequencing (WGBS), Flow Cytometry, and RT qPCR. Results Through MRI, we observed decreased tractography pathways from the dorsal SVZ, increased pathways from the posterior ventral SVZ to the insular cortex, and variable cortical thickness within the insular cortex in ASD diagnosed case relative to unaffected controls. Long-range tractography pathways from and to the insula were also reduced in the ASD case. FACS-based cell sorting revealed an increased population of proliferating cells in the SVZ of ASD case relative to the unaffected control. Targeted qPCR assays of SVZ tissue demonstrated significantly reduced expression levels of genes involved in differentiation and migration of neurons in ASD relative to the control counterpart. Finally, using genome-wide DNA methylation analyses, we identified 19 genes relevant to neurological development, function, and disease, 7 of which have not previously been described in ASD, that were significantly differentially methylated in autistic SVZ and insula specimens. Conclusion These findings suggest a hypothesis that epigenetic changes during neurodevelopment alter the trajectory of proliferation, migration, and differentiation in the SVZ, impacting cortical structure and function and resulting in ASD phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emi Takahashi
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Nina Allan
- Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Anatomy, Institute for Biogenesis Research, Biochemistry and Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Rafael Peres
- Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Anatomy, Institute for Biogenesis Research, Biochemistry and Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Alpen Ortug
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Andre J W van der Kouwe
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Briana Valli
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Elizabeth Ethier
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Jacob Levman
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.,Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, NS, Canada
| | - Nicole Baumer
- Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Keita Tsujimura
- Department of Radiology, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, United States.,Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Nauru Idalia Vargas-Maya
- Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Anatomy, Institute for Biogenesis Research, Biochemistry and Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Trevor A McCracken
- Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Anatomy, Institute for Biogenesis Research, Biochemistry and Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Rosa Lee
- Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Anatomy, Institute for Biogenesis Research, Biochemistry and Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
| | - Alika K Maunakea
- Epigenomics Research Program, Department of Anatomy, Institute for Biogenesis Research, Biochemistry and Physiology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, United States
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27
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St John T, Woods S, Bode T, Ritter C, Estes A. A review of executive functioning challenges and strengths in autistic adults. Clin Neuropsychol 2021; 36:1116-1147. [PMID: 34499568 DOI: 10.1080/13854046.2021.1971767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Objective: There has been a steady rise in research characterizing executive functioning (EF) impairments in autistic individuals but limited research investigating EF strengths. This review provides a summary of current EF research in autistic adults with a focus on EF challenges and strengths and potential sources of heterogeneity in research findings. New avenues for addressing gaps in our understanding of EF strengths are proposed.Method: A review of the EF literature was conducted. One hundred twenty-four studies of inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, fluency, planning, decision-making, and subjective measures of EF in autistic adults were included.Results: Autistic adults with average intellectual functioning demonstrate difficulties with cognitive flexibility, phonemic fluency, and working memory. Strengths in planning, decision-making, and semantic verbal fluency were evident in some but not all studies. Findings regarding inhibition are inconclusive. Key findings across each EF domain are discussed and sources of potential heterogeneity across studies were evaluated. The type of measure used appears to contribute to heterogeneous findings. Subjective EF measures revealed more consistent findings of deficits in autistic adults than objective EF measures.Conclusions: Research reveals areas of EF weaknesses as well as strengths in autistic adults. Unlike EF challenges, EF strengths are not well understood. Future research identifying EF strengths is needed to improve services and supports for autistic adults. Further investigation of potential factors that interact with or constrain EF such as comorbid disorders, verbal ability, sensory processing, and other factors specific to autism will be critical to move the field forward and increase understanding of how EF is related to everyday functioning in autistic adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanya St John
- Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.,University of Washington Autism Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.,Center on Human Development and Disability, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Sara Woods
- University of Washington Autism Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.,Center on Human Development and Disability, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Cassidy Ritter
- College of Education, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Annette Estes
- Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.,University of Washington Autism Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.,Center on Human Development and Disability, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
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28
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Prillinger K, Radev ST, Amador de Lara G, Klöbl M, Lanzenberger R, Plener PL, Poustka L, Konicar L. Repeated Sessions of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Study Protocol for a Randomized, Double-Blind, and Sham-Controlled Clinical Trial. Front Psychiatry 2021; 12:680525. [PMID: 34526918 PMCID: PMC8435587 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.680525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: Social-emotional difficulties are a core symptom of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Accordingly, individuals with ASD have problems with social cognition such as recognizing emotions from other peoples' faces. Various results from functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography studies as well as eye-tracking data reveal a neurophysiological basis of these deficits by linking them to abnormal brain activity. Thus, an intervention targeting the neural origin of ASD impairments seems warranted. A safe method able to influence neural activity is transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). This non-invasive brain stimulation method has already demonstrated promising results in several neuropsychiatric disorders in adults and children. The aim of this project is to investigate the effects of tDCS on ASD symptoms and their neural correlates in children and adolescents with ASD. Method: This study is designed as a double-blind, randomized, and sham-controlled trial with a target sample size of 20 male participants (aged 12-17 years) diagnosed with ASD. Before randomization, the participants will be stratified into comorbid depression, comorbid ADHS/conduct disorder, or no-comorbidity groups. The intervention phase comprises 10 sessions of anodal or sham tDCS applied over the left prefrontal cortex within 2 consecutive weeks. To engage the targeted brain regions, participants will perform a social cognition training during the stimulation. TDCS-induced effects on ASD symptoms and involved neural circuits will be investigated through psychological, neurophysiological, imaging, and behavioral data at pre- and post-measurements. Tolerability will be evaluated using a standardized questionnaire. Follow-up assessments 1 and 6 months after the intervention will examine long-lasting effects. Discussion: The results of this study will provide insights into the changeability of social impairments in ASD by investigating social and emotional abilities on different modalities following repeated sessions of anodal tDCS with an intra-simulation training. Furthermore, this trial will elucidate the tolerability and the potential of tDCS as a new treatment approach for ASD in adolescents. Clinical Trial Registration: The study is ongoing and has been registered in the German Registry of Clinical Trials (DRKS00017505) on 02/07/2019.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karin Prillinger
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Stefan T. Radev
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Institute of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Gabriel Amador de Lara
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Manfred Klöbl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Rupert Lanzenberger
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Paul L. Plener
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Luise Poustka
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Lilian Konicar
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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29
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Zhang Y, Huang B, Chen Q, Wang L, Zhang L, Nie K, Huang Q, Huang R. Altered microstructural properties of superficial white matter in patients with Parkinson's disease. Brain Imaging Behav 2021; 16:476-491. [PMID: 34410610 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-021-00522-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Parkinson's disease (PD), a chronic neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by sensorimotor and cognitive deficits. Previous diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies found abnormal DTI metrics in white matter bundles, such as the corpus callosum, cingulate, and frontal-parietal bundles, in PD patients. These studies mainly focused on alterations in microstructural features of long-range bundles within the deep white matter (DWM) that connects pairs of distant cortical regions. However, less is known about the DTI metrics of the superficial white matter (SWM) that connects local cortical regions in PD patients. To determine whether the DTI metrics of the SWM were different between the PD patients and the healthy controls, we recruited DTI data from 34 PD patients and 29 gender- and age-matched healthy controls. Using a probabilistic tractographic approach, we first defined a population-based SWM mask across all the subjects. Using a tract-based spatial statistical (TBSS) analytic approach, we then identified the SWM bundles showing abnormal DTI metrics in the PD patients. We found that the PD patients showed significantly lower DTI metrics in the SWM bundles connecting the sensorimotor cortex, cingulate cortex, posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and parieto-occipital cortex than the healthy controls. We also found that the clinical measures in the PD patients was significantly negatively correlated with the fractional anisotropy in the SWM (FASWM) that connects core regions in the default mode network (DMN). The FASWM in the bundles that connected the PPC was significantly positively correlated with cognitive performance in the PD patients. Our findings suggest that SWM may serve as the brain structural basis underlying the sensorimotor deficits and cognitive degeneration in PD patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yichen Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Biao Huang
- Department of Radiology, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou, 510080 , China.
| | - Qinyuan Chen
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Lijuan Wang
- Department of Neurology, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Lu Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Kun Nie
- Department of Neurology, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Qinda Huang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China
| | - Ruiwang Huang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, China.
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30
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Fecal Supernatant from Adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder Alters Digestive Functions, Intestinal Epithelial Barrier, and Enteric Nervous System. Microorganisms 2021; 9:microorganisms9081723. [PMID: 34442802 PMCID: PMC8399841 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9081723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Revised: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 08/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental disorders defined by impaired social interactions and communication with repetitive behaviors, activities, or interests. Gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances and gut microbiota dysbiosis are frequently associated with ASD in childhood. However, it is not known whether microbiota dysbiosis in ASD patients also occurs in adulthood. Further, the consequences of altered gut microbiota on digestive functions and the enteric nervous system (ENS) remain unexplored. Therefore, we studied, in mice, the ability offecal supernatant (FS) from adult ASD patients to induce GI dysfunctions and ENS remodeling. First, the analyses of the fecal microbiota composition in adult ASD patients indicated a reduced α-diversity and increased abundance of three bacterial 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequence variants compared to healthy controls (HC). The transfer of FS from ASD patients (FS-ASD) to mice decreased colonic barrier permeability by 29% and 58% compared to FS-HC for paracellular and transcellular permeability, respectively. These effects are associated with the reduced expression of the tight junction proteins JAM-A, ZO-2, cingulin, and proinflammatory cytokines TNFα and IL1β. In addition, the expression of glial and neuronal molecules was reduced by FS-ASD as compared to FS-HC in particular for those involved in neuronal connectivity (βIII-tubulin and synapsin decreased by 31% and 67%, respectively). Our data suggest that changes in microbiota composition in ASD may contribute to GI alterations, and in part, via ENS remodeling.
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31
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Wang Y, Metoki A, Xia Y, Zang Y, He Y, Olson IR. A large-scale structural and functional connectome of social mentalizing. Neuroimage 2021; 236:118115. [PMID: 33933599 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans have a remarkable ability to infer the mind of others. This mentalizing skill relies on a distributed network of brain regions but how these regions connect and interact is not well understood. Here we leveraged large-scale multimodal neuroimaging data to elucidate the brain-wide organization and mechanisms of mentalizing processing. Key connectomic features of the mentalizing network (MTN) have been delineated in exquisite detail. We found the structural architecture of MTN is organized by two parallel subsystems and constructed redundantly by local and long-range white matter fibers. We uncovered an intrinsic functional architecture that is synchronized according to the degree of mentalizing, and its hierarchy reflects the inherent information integration order. We also examined the correspondence between the structural and functional connectivity in the network and revealed their differences in network topology, individual variance, spatial specificity, and functional specificity. Finally, we scrutinized the connectome resemblance between the default mode network and MTN and elaborated their inherent differences in dynamic patterns, laterality, and homogeneity. Overall, our study demonstrates that mentalizing processing unfolds across functionally heterogeneous regions with highly structured fiber tracts and unique hierarchical functional architecture, which make it distinguishable from the default mode network and other vicinity brain networks supporting autobiographical memory, semantic memory, self-referential, moral reasoning, and mental time travel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
| | - Athanasia Metoki
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Yunman Xia
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Yinyin Zang
- School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Yong He
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Ingrid R Olson
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
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32
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Cauvet É, Van't Westeinde A, Toro R, Kuja-Halkola R, Neufeld J, Mevel K, Bölte S. The social brain in female autism: a structural imaging study of twins. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2021; 15:423-436. [PMID: 32363404 PMCID: PMC7308659 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsaa064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2019] [Revised: 03/26/2020] [Accepted: 04/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
A female advantage in social cognition (SoC) might contribute to women's underrepresentation in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The latter could be underpinned by sex differences in social brain structure. This study investigated the relationship between structural social brain networks and SoC in females and males in relation to ASD and autistic traits in twins. We used a co-twin design in 77 twin pairs (39 female) aged 12.5 to 31.0 years. Twin pairs were discordant or concordant for ASD or autistic traits, discordant or concordant for other neurodevelopmental disorders or concordant for neurotypical development. They underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging and were assessed for SoC using the naturalistic Movie for the Assessment of Social Cognition. Autistic traits predicted reduced SoC capacities predominantly in male twins, despite a comparable extent of autistic traits in each sex, although the association between SoC and autistic traits did not differ significantly between the sexes. Consistently, within-pair associations between SoC and social brain structure revealed that lower SoC ability was associated with increased cortical thickness of several brain regions, particularly in males. Our findings confirm the notion that sex differences in SoC in association with ASD are underpinned by sex differences in brain structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Élodie Cauvet
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm 11330, Sweden
| | - Annelies Van't Westeinde
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm 11330, Sweden
| | - Roberto Toro
- Department of Neuroscience, Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015, France.,CNRS URA 2182 "Genes, synapses and cognition", Pasteur Institute, Paris 75015, France.,Human Genetics and Cognitive Functions, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris 75013, France
| | - Ralf Kuja-Halkola
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm 17177, Sweden
| | - Janina Neufeld
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm 11330, Sweden
| | - Katell Mevel
- GIP Cyceron, Normandy University, Caen 14074, France
| | - Sven Bölte
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm 11330, Sweden.,Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm 11330, Sweden.,School of Occupational Therapy, Social Work and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia 6102, Australia
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33
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Park BY, Hong SJ, Valk SL, Paquola C, Benkarim O, Bethlehem RAI, Di Martino A, Milham MP, Gozzi A, Yeo BTT, Smallwood J, Bernhardt BC. Differences in subcortico-cortical interactions identified from connectome and microcircuit models in autism. Nat Commun 2021; 12:2225. [PMID: 33850128 PMCID: PMC8044226 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21732-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2020] [Accepted: 02/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
The pathophysiology of autism has been suggested to involve a combination of both macroscale connectome miswiring and microcircuit anomalies. Here, we combine connectome-wide manifold learning with biophysical simulation models to understand associations between global network perturbations and microcircuit dysfunctions in autism. We studied neuroimaging and phenotypic data in 47 individuals with autism and 37 typically developing controls obtained from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange initiative. Our analysis establishes significant differences in structural connectome organization in individuals with autism relative to controls, with strong between-group effects in low-level somatosensory regions and moderate effects in high-level association cortices. Computational models reveal that the degree of macroscale anomalies is related to atypical increases of recurrent excitation/inhibition, as well as subcortical inputs into cortical microcircuits, especially in sensory and motor areas. Transcriptomic association analysis based on postmortem datasets identifies genes expressed in cortical and thalamic areas from childhood to young adulthood. Finally, supervised machine learning finds that the macroscale perturbations are associated with symptom severity scores on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule. Together, our analyses suggest that atypical subcortico-cortical interactions are associated with both microcircuit and macroscale connectome differences in autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo-Yong Park
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
- Department of Data Science, Inha University, Incheon, South Korea.
| | - Seok-Jun Hong
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Center for the Developing Brain, Child Mind Institute, New York City, NY, USA
- Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, South Korea
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, South Korea
| | - Sofie L Valk
- Forschungszentrum, Julich, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Casey Paquola
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Oualid Benkarim
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Richard A I Bethlehem
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Brain Mapping Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Adriana Di Martino
- Center for the Developing Brain, Child Mind Institute, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Michael P Milham
- Center for the Developing Brain, Child Mind Institute, New York City, NY, USA
| | - Alessandro Gozzi
- Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Centre for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems @ UNITN, Rovereto, Italy
| | - B T Thomas Yeo
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Centre for Sleep and Cognition (CSC) & Centre for Translational Magnetic Resonance Research (TMR), National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- N.1 Institute for Health & Institute for Digital Medicine (WisDM), National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA
- Integrative Sciences and Engineering Programme (ISEP), National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Jonathan Smallwood
- Department of Psychology, York Neuroimaging Centre, University of York, York, UK
- Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada
| | - Boris C Bernhardt
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
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34
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Liu C, Li D, Yang H, Li H, Xu Q, Zhou B, Hu C, Li C, Wang Y, Qiao Z, Jiang YH, Xu X. Altered striatum centered brain structures in SHANK3 deficient Chinese children with genotype and phenotype profiling. Prog Neurobiol 2020; 200:101985. [PMID: 33388374 PMCID: PMC8572121 DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2020.101985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2019] [Revised: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 12/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
SHANK3 deficiency represents one of the most replicated monogenic risk factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and SHANK3 caused ASD presents a unique opportunity to understand the underlying neuropathological mechanisms of ASD. In this study, genetic tests, comprehensive clinical and neurobehavioral evaluations, as well as multimodal structural MRI using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) were conducted in SHANK3 group (N = 14 with SHANK3 defects), ASD controls (N = 26 with idiopathic ASD without SHANK3 defects) and typically developing (TD) controls (N = 32). Phenotypically, we reported several new features in Chinese SHANK3 deficient children including anteverted nares, sensory stimulation seeking, dental abnormalities and hematological problems. In SHANK3 group, VBM revealed decreased grey matter volumes mainly in dorsal striatum, amygdala, hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus; TBSS demonstrated decreased fractional anisotropy in multiple tracts involving projection, association and commissural fibers, including middle cerebral peduncle, corpus callosum, superior longitudinal fasciculus, corona radiata, external and internal capsule, and posterior thalamic radiation, etc. We report that the disrupted striatum centered brain structures are associated with SHANK3 deficient children. Study of subjects with monogenic cause offer specific insights into the neuroimaging studies of ASD. The discovery may support a path for future functional connectivity studies to allow for more in-depth understandings of the abnormal neural circuits and the underlying neuropathological mechanisms for ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunxue Liu
- Department of Child Health Care, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Dongyun Li
- Department of Child Health Care, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Haowei Yang
- Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Huiping Li
- Department of Child Health Care, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Qiong Xu
- Department of Child Health Care, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Bingrui Zhou
- Department of Child Health Care, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Chunchun Hu
- Department of Child Health Care, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Chunyang Li
- Department of Child Health Care, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Yi Wang
- Department of Child Health Care, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhongwei Qiao
- Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.
| | - Yong-Hui Jiang
- Department of Genetics, Pediatrics and Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Heaven CT 06520 USA.
| | - Xiu Xu
- Department of Child Health Care, Children's Hospital of Fudan University, 399 Wanyuan Road, Shanghai, China.
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Zhang XF, Chen T, Yan A, Xiao J, Xie YL, Yuan J, Chen P, Wong AOL, Zhang Y, Wong NK. Poly(I:C) Challenge Alters Brain Expression of Oligodendroglia-Related Genes of Adult Progeny in a Mouse Model of Maternal Immune Activation. Front Mol Neurosci 2020; 13:115. [PMID: 32714147 PMCID: PMC7340146 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2020.00115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Altered white matter connectivity, as evidenced by pervasive microstructural changes in myelination and axonal integrity in neuroimaging studies, has been implicated in the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related neurodevelopmental conditions such as schizophrenia. Despite an increasing appreciation that such white matter disconnectivity is linked to social behavior deficits, virtually no etiologically meaningful myelin-related genes have been identified in oligodendrocytes, the key myelinating cells in the CNS, to furnish an account on the causes. The impact of neurodevelopmental perturbations during pregnancy such as maternal immune activation (MIA) on these genes in memory-related neural networks has not been experimentally scrutinized. Methods: In this study, a mouse model of MIA by the viral dsRNA analog poly(I:C) was employed to mimic the effects of inflammation during pregnancy. Transcriptional expression levels of selected myelin- or oligodendroglia-related genes implicated in schizophrenia or ASD development were analyzed by in situ hybridization (ISH) and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) with brain samples from MIA and control groups. The analysis focused on SOX-10 (SRY-related HMG-box 10), MAG (myelin-associated glycoprotein), and Tf (transferrin) expression in the hippocampus and the surrounding memory-related cortical regions in either hemisphere. Results: Specifically, ISH reveals that in the brain of prenatal poly(I:C)-exposed mouse offspring in the MIA model (gestation day 9), mRNA expression of the genes SOX10, MAG and Tf were generally reduced in the limbic system including the hippocampus, retrosplenial cortex and parahippocampal gyrus on either side of the hemispheres. qRT-PCR further confirms the reduction of SOX10, MAG, and Tf expression in the medial prefrontal cortex, sensory cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. Conclusions: Our present results provide direct evidence that prenatal exposure to poly(I:C) elicits profound and long-term changes in transcript level and spatial distribution of myelin-related genes in multiple neocortical and limbic regions, notably the hippocampus and its surrounding memory-related neural networks. Our work demonstrates the potential utility of oligodendroglia-related genes as biomarkers for modeling neurodevelopmental disorders, in agreement with the hypothesis that MIA during pregnancy could lead to compromised white matter connectivity in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Fan Zhang
- Department of Psychiatry, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.,Department of Psychiatry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Ting Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology (LMB), Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology of Guangdong Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (LAMB), South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Aifen Yan
- School of Stomatology and Medicine, Foshan University, Foshan, China
| | - Jia Xiao
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, The Second Hospital Affiliated to Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yong-Li Xie
- National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, The Second Hospital Affiliated to Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jing Yuan
- National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, The Second Hospital Affiliated to Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Pin Chen
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | | | - Yang Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology (LMB), Key Laboratory of Applied Marine Biology of Guangdong Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences (LAMB), South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China
| | - Nai-Kei Wong
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.,National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, The Second Hospital Affiliated to Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
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36
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Guevara M, Guevara P, Román C, Mangin JF. Superficial white matter: A review on the dMRI analysis methods and applications. Neuroimage 2020; 212:116673. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2019] [Revised: 02/17/2020] [Accepted: 02/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
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37
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Evidence accumulation during perceptual decisions in humans varies as a function of dorsal frontoparietal organization. Nat Hum Behav 2020; 4:844-855. [PMID: 32313233 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-0863-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2019] [Accepted: 03/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Animal neurophysiological studies have identified neural signals within dorsal frontoparietal areas that trace a perceptual decision by accumulating sensory evidence over time and trigger action upon reaching a threshold. Although analogous accumulation-to-bound signals are identifiable on extracranial human electroencephalography, their cortical origins remain unknown. Here neural metrics of human evidence accumulation, predictive of the speed of perceptual reports, were isolated using electroencephalography and related to dorsal frontoparietal network (dFPN) connectivity using diffusion and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. The build-up rate of evidence accumulation mediated the relationship between the white matter macrostructure of dFPN pathways and the efficiency of perceptual reports. This association between steeper build-up rates of evidence accumulation and the dFPN was recapitulated in the resting-state networks. Stronger connectivity between dFPN regions is thus associated with faster evidence accumulation and speeded perceptual decisions. Our findings identify an integrated network for perceptual decisions that may be targeted for neurorehabilitation in cognitive disorders.
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38
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Di Lorenzo G, Riccioni A, Ribolsi M, Siracusano M, Curatolo P, Mazzone L. Auditory Mismatch Negativity in Youth Affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder With and Without Attenuated Psychosis Syndrome. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11:555340. [PMID: 33329094 PMCID: PMC7732489 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.555340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Accepted: 10/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The present study investigates the differences in auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) parameters given in a sample of young subjects with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 37) with or without co-occurrent attenuated psychosis syndrome (APS). Our results show that ASD individuals present an MMN decreased amplitude and prolonged latency, without being influenced by concurrent APS. Additionally, when correlating the MMN indexes to clinical features, in the ASD + APS group, we found a negative correlation between the severity of autistic symptoms and the MMN latency in both frequency (f-MMN r = -0.810; p < 0.0001) and duration (d-MMN r = -0.650; p = 0.006) deviants. Thus, our results may provide a more informative characterization of the ASD sub-phenotype when associated with APS, highlighting the need for further longitudinal investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Di Lorenzo
- Laboratory of Psychophysiology and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.,IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy
| | - Assia Riccioni
- Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Michele Ribolsi
- Psychiatry Unit, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Martina Siracusano
- Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.,Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Paolo Curatolo
- Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Luigi Mazzone
- Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
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39
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Tunç B, Yankowitz LD, Parker D, Alappatt JA, Pandey J, Schultz RT, Verma R. Deviation from normative brain development is associated with symptom severity in autism spectrum disorder. Mol Autism 2019; 10:46. [PMID: 31867092 PMCID: PMC6907209 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-019-0301-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2019] [Accepted: 11/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition. The degree to which the brain development in ASD deviates from typical brain development, and how this deviation relates to observed behavioral outcomes at the individual level are not well-studied. We hypothesize that the degree of deviation from typical brain development of an individual with ASD would relate to observed symptom severity. Methods The developmental changes in anatomical (cortical thickness, surface area, and volume) and diffusion metrics (fractional anisotropy and apparent diffusion coefficient) were compared between a sample of ASD (n = 247) and typically developing children (TDC) (n = 220) aged 6-25. Machine learning was used to predict age (brain age) from these metrics in the TDC sample, to define a normative model of brain development. This model was then used to compute brain age in the ASD sample. The difference between chronological age and brain age was considered a developmental deviation index (DDI), which was then correlated with ASD symptom severity. Results Machine learning model trained on all five metrics accurately predicted age in the TDC (r = 0.88) and the ASD (r = 0.85) samples, with dominant contributions to the model from the diffusion metrics. Within the ASD group, the DDI derived from fractional anisotropy was correlated with ASD symptom severity (r = - 0.2), such that individuals with the most advanced brain age showing the lowest severity, and individuals with the most delayed brain age showing the highest severity. Limitations This work investigated only linear relationships between five specific brain metrics and only one measure of ASD symptom severity in a limited age range. Reported effect sizes are moderate. Further work is needed to investigate developmental differences in other age ranges, other aspects of behavior, other neurobiological measures, and in an independent sample before results can be clinically applicable. Conclusions Findings demonstrate that the degree of deviation from typical brain development relates to ASD symptom severity, partially accounting for the observed heterogeneity in ASD. Our approach enables characterization of each individual with reference to normative brain development and identification of distinct developmental subtypes, facilitating a better understanding of developmental heterogeneity in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birkan Tunç
- Center for Autism Research, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
- Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
- Center for Biomedical Image Computing and Analytics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
| | - Lisa D. Yankowitz
- Center for Autism Research, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
| | - Drew Parker
- DiCIPHR (Diffusion and Connectomics in Precision Healthcare Research) Lab, Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
| | - Jacob A. Alappatt
- DiCIPHR (Diffusion and Connectomics in Precision Healthcare Research) Lab, Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
| | - Juhi Pandey
- Center for Autism Research, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
| | - Robert T. Schultz
- Center for Autism Research, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
| | - Ragini Verma
- Center for Biomedical Image Computing and Analytics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
- DiCIPHR (Diffusion and Connectomics in Precision Healthcare Research) Lab, Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA
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40
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The atypical social brain network in autism: advances in structural and functional MRI studies. Curr Opin Neurol 2019; 32:617-621. [DOI: 10.1097/wco.0000000000000713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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41
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Hau J, Aljawad S, Baggett N, Fishman I, Carper RA, Müller RA. The cingulum and cingulate U-fibers in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders. Hum Brain Mapp 2019; 40:3153-3164. [PMID: 30941791 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2018] [Revised: 03/11/2019] [Accepted: 03/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The cingulum is the major fiber system connecting the cingulate and surrounding medial cortex and medial temporal lobe internally and with other brain areas. It is important for social and emotional functions related to core symptomatology in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). While the cingulum has been examined in autism, the extensive system of cingulate U-fibers has not been studied. Using probabilistic tractography, we investigated white matter fibers of the cingulate cortex by distinguishing its deep intra-cingulate bundle (cingulum proper) and short rostral anterior, caudal anterior, posterior, and isthmus cingulate U-fibers in 61 ASD and 54 typically developing children and adolescents. Increased mean and radial diffusivity of the left cingulum proper was observed in the ASD group, replicating previous findings on the cingulum. For cingulate U-fibers, an atypical age-related decline in right posterior cingulate U-fiber volume was found in the ASD group, which appeared to be driven by an abnormally large volume in younger children. History of repetitive and restrictive behavior was negatively associated with right caudal anterior cingulate U-fiber volume, linking cingulate motor areas with neighboring gyri. Aberrant development in U-fiber volume of the right posterior cingulate gyrus may underlie functional abnormalities found in this region, such as in the default mode network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janice Hau
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
| | - Saba Aljawad
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
| | - Nicole Baggett
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
| | - Inna Fishman
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
| | - Ruth A Carper
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
| | - Ralph-Axel Müller
- Brain Development Imaging Laboratories, Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
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42
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Eyler LT. Brain connections and social connections in autism spectrum disorders. Brain 2018; 141:3287-3289. [PMID: 30496361 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awy293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Lisa T Eyler
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, USA
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